Look, Vincent Kitch hasn’t even started his job as director of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs yet, so we do need to give the man a chance.
But it’s worth saying that, after the department suffered a serious decline in reputation among artists and arts lovers under former bureaucrat Michael Killoren, Mayor Mike McGinn went in and hired another bureaucrat—and it’s not like we didn’t warn him. (Police Chief Diaz, anyone?)
What gives?
Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith didn’t give much more of an answer to that question than gee-whiz-we-sure-liked-him when I asked a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately, I was the one to introduce Smith—who steered the hiring committee and then guided the mayor behind the scenes in the final decision, too—to both positive and negative press coverage of Kitch in his job in Austin. Not to mention that Kitch is no longer in the job the press release says is his most recent. (Full story.)
When I asked Smith about these things, Smith said the committee and the mayor relied on testimony about Kitch by Kitch.
It doesn’t inspire confidence. Neither did comments that Kitch’s work with South by Southwest—a private entity—were part of the decision to hire him for the arts job in Seattle (where there’s an entirely separate film and music office).
We’ll have to see what Kitch does when he arrives in April. But he should know this won’t be a cakewalk. This office needs vitality and strength, not paperpushing and handshaking. It needs to regain its status as a force for those who love the arts, not just for bureaucrats who attend national conferences in closed rooms with other bureaucrats, and who specialize in nothing so much as eking out their own job security.
That was one of Smith’s weird comments to me. In explaining Kitch’s “connections” in the arts world, he said, “He even sat next to Michael Killoren at a conference.”
That’s not a connection, that’s a demerit. That was an hour of Kitch’s career during which he wasn’t doing the job Seattle will need him to do.
We’re watching.
Jen, this post would be even more piquant if you’d add in that double-breasted blue blazer.
I am just saying.
Can we all agree that when it comes to the arts our local politicians have their hearts in the right place but nothing approaching logic?
Wasn’t Brendan on the hiring committee? (Maybe I’m remembering that wrong.) What does he think?
Sadly, @2 for the Bacon-infused win.
McGinn is the Stranger’s mayor and a Stranger staffer was on the committee who selected this guy. If he doesn’t work out, is the Stranger at all responsible?
@ 3 and 5. Yes, I was on a hiring committee. Our job was to pick three names from the pool of applicants and forward them onto the mayor, who would make the final decision. I didn’t discuss any part of that process with anyone at The Stranger, so the paper isn’t responsible for anything.
Would you have even been on the hiring committee if you were just Brendan Kiley the Theater Lover and not Brendan Kiley the Stranger Staffer?
I guess if Jen likes someone they’re an “Arts Administrator” (Cheryl dos Remedios, Anne Focke), but if you’re on her bad list you get stuck with being called a “Bureaucrat” (Michael Killoran). Poor Vincent. I do hope he doesn’t attend any more of those suspicious national conferences.
I think it’s high time that the mayor’s office be granted access to Google, don’t you?
There is a bevy of talented, affordable, innovative arts leaders here in Seattle that could have stepped into this role and been faced with the challenge of changing an engrained system full of friends and associates.
Or, the mayor could’ve made a bold and interesting move to bring in someone with a sharp axe, a quick mind and no local ties that bind to remake the whole thing.
The concern is that he chose neither.
Ha! You gotta love Kiley’s comment! So his job was to “pick 3 names from the pool.” Sounds like he thinks his job was to “pick” as in “pick names out of a hat” or “pick his nose.” He may not have taken his job seriously, but the choice of Vincent Kitch shows that at least the other members of the hiring committee took their job seriously and selected candidates with outstanding creditials.
So the Stranger’s complaint about Mr. Kitch is that he is a bureaucrat? First, I don’t think that working for the government automatically makes you a bureaucrat anymore than knowing how to swim makes you a fish. What evidence does the Stranger have of this dreaded condition – “bureaucrat?” For arguement’s sake, let’s say he is a bureaucrat — who knows how to work within a bureaucracy better than a bureaucrat? Want to get something done? Hire experience. The Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs is a government office, not a non-profit, and the rules are different. We have all seen the dangers of having someone in a job with no experience. Remember, you have to know the rules in order to break them.
Finally, the Stranger went against all ethical standards by even allowing a staff member to participate in this process, but then that Stranger staffer also gets to gets to deny that he or the Stranger is in any way “responsible” for the selection? Geez — get some balls and own your decision!!
As a member of the search committee (like Brendan Kiley), I’m bound by confidentiality in saying too much. What I can say is that I agree with you, Jen: we need to “give the man a chance.” We interviewed some amazing people and we agreed on who to forward onto the Mayor. While every interview process has its constraints, if Vincent Kitch is the guy who showed up in that interview room, then we are about to see a new era at OACA.
Working as an artist, an arts advocate and a public art administrator, I care deeply that the Director of OACA has the necessary bureaucratic skill set (and yes, it is a necessary skill set). I also want a down-to-earth, serious arts fanatic to help reveal everything that’s going on + all of our collective potential. But you know what? It isn’t the job of one person to pull this off – we need to pull together to reinvigorate Seattle’s reputation for collaboration and innovation. Let’s start by giving Vincent a chance to show up and show us what he’s about, and give him a chance to learn something about the artists, organizers and critics who contribute so much of themselves to making Seattle the place we want to be.
Cheryl dos Remedios
@ 11. I’m not shying away from my part in the process of picking/choosing/selecting/whatever-verb-you-prefer-ing.
I’m just explaining it and explaining that The Stranger Hive-Mind(tm) had nothing to do with it.
As for your getting upset about “all ethical standards…” I don’t know what to say. You must be new here.
@11
You must be new here; no one in this city has “ethical standards”, especially The Stranger.